A Funny CI Moment

I thought I would share a CI moment that I had yesterday. When I started my car this morning, I heard this AWFUL grinding noise off and on every thirty seconds or so. I thought maybe it was my new tape deck accessory that I was using to listen to my iPod with in my car stereo so I turned it off. Turned off the heater, too. Started to back out of the garage and heard it again. I thought "Oh, great. Steve is out of town and Marissa has already left for school and there is no one here to help me." I also thought that I ran over the cat again (she used up one of her nine lives last time I did that) and that she was crying on my wheel or was in my engine trying to stay warm (been there, done that, too). So I stopped to check and didn't see or hear anything. As I left the driveway, I heard it AGAIN! Great. So, stopped the car (left it running) and walked to the back wheels to see if I could find out where the noise was coming from. Right then I saw my window wiper scrape against the dry back window intermittently. That is where the noise came from! It had been raining when I got home the night before but was dry yesterday morning. My coworkers just laughed at me when I told them. Before my CI I would have driven halfway to work before I realized that had I left the wipers on!

Read to Me/Talk to Me

Lately my favorite request is "Read to Me" or "Talk to Me." It is great therapy for me in the real world. My speech therapist says that a normal hearing person needs to hear a word or phrase 1000 times (yes, one thousand times) before the brain can "imprint" it and remember it. A deaf or hard of hearing person needs to hear it THREE TIMES as much before it is stored into memory. That is why auditory therapy is so important for me. My ability to understand without reading lips is just getting better and better all the time. Marissa, Steve, and Brad have all read some Mercer Mayer (kids books) to me. It seems strange to have stories read to me that I used to read to the kids when they were little but I have to take baby steps. I'm also talking on the phone a little bit more and can talk to Kim, my coworker, in the next cubicle. I can understand Steve while I am knitting in my chair or cooking in the kitchen. Each day I am gaining more confidence in my ability to hear and understand. My CI has also improved the quality of my speech. Everyone tells me that I seem happier these days and am more relaxed. I feel it, too. . . . .every day is Christmas for me!

Yesterday was a good day. I called Dawn, my best friend, twice and was able to understand and carry a conversation with her! I still like to keep it short and simple. Also, I spent all day in a seminar for work. Usually I get very nervous and stressed in a class or seminar because I don't want to miss anything and cannot take notes and listen at the same time. Well, I was able to understand the speaker with ease, took notes and even heard her say words and phrases (but not complete sentences) without lipreading! It was great! I'm realizing that lipreading is becoming more effortless for me and that I don't need it all the time. Also, I am asking people to repeat things less often. The seminar (Accounts Payables) was wonderful, too, and I learned alot. I cannot wait to get back to work to share what I learned with my supervisor and president of the credit union.

I also had another CI moment this week. To make a long story short, I had to talk with eBay on the phone. Someone had "hacked" into my eBay account and was selling a 2005 Harley Davidson motorcycle! I was getting emails from eBay members asking me questions about a motorcycle and I just ignored them, thinking it was spam. Also, eBay sent me several notices about "unusual" activity on my account and I ignored those as well, thinking it was a phishing scam. Well, it wasn't and eBay froze my account and cancelled the Harley Davidson listing! I had to go through several steps to confirm and reactivate my account and had to do part of it on the phone. eBay had to call me to verify my identity and phone number on my account. So, I was able to hear them with my T-Link. I was a little nervous but I did it! I told eBay that I will never own, buy, or sell a motorcycle nor do I have any interest in one and appreciated them taking appropriate action on my account.

This morning I called Brad and talked to him for about eight minutes. I had trouble with one word, "therapy" and after he spelled it for me I got it. He went back to Virginia last week and I miss him already.

Today my aunt Nelda is coming from Nashville to visit for the weekend. I cannot wait to see her and spend time with her! We have always been very close. She is about 11 years older than me and is like a big sister to me. We plan to go to Cades Cove in the Smoky Mountains today. Maybe I will hear some new sounds!

I will close this with a quote from Mother Teresa: "We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature--trees, flowers, grass--grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence...we need silence to be able to touch souls." - Mother Teresa

The Sounds of Music

Music is getting better all the time but is not perfect. But it is still a wonderful experience for me. I'm finding that I like "orchestra" type music better than "band" type music. The sounds of simple instruments are very pleasing to me like the piano, flute, clarinet (woodwind), and stringed instruments. Some brass instruments are okay if they are played by themselves. If there are too many instruments playing at once (like in church), it sounds like they are competing with one another (like cats and dogs fighting)! My processor cannot figure out which sounds to minimize and which sounds to bring forth (voices). So, it is better with single instruments and/or soloists. I can hear the melody as well as individual instruments if they are being played together or by themselves.

I love my iPod and listen to it regularly. My old familiar songs are most recognizable to me. I love my T-Link because it gives me a direct link and the sound quality is so clear and crisp.

My next step is to learn to sing and carry a tune. I would like to take some voice lessons from someone and be more confident in my ability to sing with others. But for now, I sing in the car or when I'm alone!

I'm still searching for that perfect "map." I went back to my audiologist right after the New Year and he increased my C level (comfort level) five steps on one program. I'm going back to him this coming week to have him increase the rest of the programs because now they seem too soft.

Last week was a week of funerals. Steve, Marissa and I went to four funerals in three days. I went to two of them - one for a friend (Debbie) who lost her battle to colon cancer and the other for Dawn's mother, who lost her battle to pancreatic cancer. At Debbie's funeral I could hear people around me sniffing and crying quietly. The soloist was beautiful. Dawn's mother was an interpreter for the deaf for many years and planned her own funeral before she passed away. I noticed that this service was "hearing impaired friendly" and the whole service was very nice and was easy to follow and understand. The speakers and music were not overwhelming for me at all. There was a trumpet solo and a clarinet solo, some congregation singing, and a poetry reading. I used my microphone attachment and laid it on the seat next to me and it allowed me to focus on the service.

Music is a part of life and I'm so thankful that I can hear it.

"Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life."- Berthold Auerbach

Letter from Trudy

Here is an excerpt from an email from my Aunt Trudy. She is my mother's younger sister and lived with my parents for a short time when I was little. (I will move this to my "Book Chapters" at a later date.) Stephen is her son, my cousin, and Dave is my Uncle Dave, my mother's brother.

"Laurie, I'm so happy for you that your ear transplant is working so well. I know your book (as your website) will be an inspiration to all who read it. Stephen re-formated my computer several weeks ago so I was glad to get the blog address from Dave today so I could catch up on things. I love reading about each new experience - and all the things you and your family are doing. I know your mom would be absolutely thrilled!!! She told me once how sad she felt that you could not hear the wonderful sounds that you now experience and describe so well. It is truly a miracle. I have many memories of your early school days since I lived with you my first year at OSU. Your mom sat at the kitchen table with you every night with a scrapbook she compiled of pictures of everything imaginable to teach you the names of everything as you learned to read her lips. (did she save it?) You were very bright - but also could be ornery, - weren't you the one who locked the basement door when she was downstairs doing laundry? But you worked so hard to learn the names of colors, numbers, animals, objects - anything she could find pictures of, to help you understand the world you could not hear. You were usually as eager to learn as she was determined to teach. You were both unstoppable!! Love, Trudy"

My note: I called my father yesterday and asked him if he still had the scrapbook that Trudy talked about. He said that my sister Kathy would have it if it was still around. Kathy gave all those things to me so I need to look and see if I have it!

Christmas Pictures from San Diego

from left to right: (back) Chris & Jason
(front) Brad, Marissa, Laurie, and Steve


Brad, Chris, Marissa, and Jason
(notice their bells around their necks?)


Steve and Laurie Pullins


The Kids messing around!


Christmas Cookies!

Christmas in San Diego

We returned from California late last night. I didn't have much time to regroup or unpack before I had to go to bed in order to get a decent night's sleep before returning to work this morning. I have a million things to do tonight but am too tired and jet-lagged to do anything - so I'll write.

We had a wonderful time as a family with Chris in San Diego. I know he was thrilled to have us there so that he did not have to spend Christmas alone. We spent five days together and kept busy. Steve and I stayed in a hotel while the rest of the kids stayed at Chris' house. We went bowling twice and had a blast. The bowling alley was quite noisy environment but I didn't care! We also ate and fixed meals together, made Christmas cookies, went shopping, watched movies and just relaxed as a family. We also saw the movie "The Chronicles of Narnia" by C.S. Lewis. I still have a hard time understanding what is going on without closed captioning but I was able to pick up some of the dialogue. But, it is hard to read animal lips on the screen! For some reason I thought I knew the storyline and got it mixed up with "Beauty and the Beast." I couldn't figure out why the lion and the witch didn't fall in love with each other. I realized my mistake later and will have to watch the movie again with closed captioning when it comes out in DVD or video.

One of the highlights of the trip was going to the Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, California to see "The Glory of Christmas." It has been a dream of mine to see it someday and it was beautiful! This year was the 25th anniversary of the Christmas pageant there. The pageant was great and worth the trip. It was complete with live animals, including three camels, several llamas, children carrying baby lambs, etc. to the Cave of the Nativity. There were also angels that flew high over us in the audience. The music was recorded and there were no live instruments playing. I was a little disappointed with that but the Crystal Cathedral looks like it does not have room for the stage AND an orchestra. I still struggle with music "sounding right" but it helped to hear the songs that I was most familiar with. When there is a lot of music playing, my processor has trouble deciding what sounds to minimize and what sounds to focus on. I hear the best with simple instruments and voices, especially solos. My favorite was the song "What Can I Give Him?" sung by a little boy who looked like he was about eight years old. Some of the scenes were very intimate and truly showed the true message of Christmas.

Steve and I toured the beautiful grounds before the show. We also met one of my online friends, Karen VanDenBrink and her husband, Paul (we had made arrangements ahead of time to get together). I had met her once before when she came to Tennessee several years ago and she has twin daughters who are also hearing impaired. We met on a quilting chat group online and have communicated by email and computer since then. I talked about her earlier when I started this blog. Anyway, we had dinner together afterwards at Hof's Hut, which was a local diner, and enjoyed visiting in person. The kids went skiing and snowboarding for the day while Steve and I were at the Crystal Cathedral.

I'm having more CI moments again. I'm noticing and hearing a few new things every day. Maybe it is because I am rested and am not so worn out and stressed like I was before the holidays. Chris has crickets in an aquarium IN his house for his roomate's scorpions and they were very noisy and annoying. A few months ago I was thrilled that I could hear them for the first time. This time I just wanted to dump the crickets in the aquarium with the scorpions to silence them! It was a relief to return back to the hotel so I didn't have to listen to them anymore. We also drove by the ocean a few times and saw the monster waves that everyone was talking about.

New CI moments:

• Heard the strum of a guitar from another room with the door shut.
• The sound of my sweetner pouring into my paper cup at the hotel while making tea.
• The florescent light above our kitchen sink "crackled" when I turned it on this morning.
• I'm catching and picking up more phrases from the radio and television and in the car without lipreading.

Christmas morning was special and of course I heard the wrapping paper and all the wonderful sounds of Steve fixing breakfast for the family (which is a tradition for him - he makes the best french toast!) I made bells for the kids and hung them around their necks with gold ribbon. Our time in California flew by too quickly and it was time to go home again. But, it will be a vacation to remember!

Have a Blessed Christmas

It is less than a week before Christmas and I wanted to send some Christmas blessings to you. I know there are many of you who read this and I don't know who you are but the wishes are still the same to my family and friends, old and new. We are truly blessed this holiday season. I know I am!

I am off work today so that I can pack, run errands and get some things ready before we fly as a family to be with Chris in San Diego for Christmas. It will be a different and fun Christmas for us but I do know that we will make a memory! We won't be in our own home on Christmas morning nor will we have a White Christmas but we will be TOGETHER!

These last few weeks have been filled with music for me. I'm listening to music everywhere I go! Two weekends ago I went to THREE Christmas musicals or cantatas. I had a headache the following morning from all that sound but I didn't care! Most of it sounded good. Our church performed a song sung in a duet called "I Have Seen The Light" at the end of the program and it just brought tears to my eyes because I have waited to hear that song in church for over 15 years. Steve sang it in a trio years ago when we lived in Chillicothe, Ohio and it is one of my favorite Christmas songs. I loved hearing it again and it sounded so great. I got to hear it twice because I went to the first performance, left and went to my friend Linda's church for her cantata, and then came back just in time to hear it again the second time! I'm still having trouble when there is a lot of music going on with band instruments, voices, orchestra and percussion being played all at once. My processor doesn't like it and can't decide what it wants to hear the most and what to put in the background. Music sounds the best with familiar songs, a few simple instruments being played or solos being sung. Last Thursday we went to Marissa's high school Christmas program where her school choir and orchestra were performing. That sounded the best of all. Maybe it is because the instruments being played in the orchestra are not in as much competition with one another and I can hear the voices of the choir. I loved it. I even heard another sound that I didn't recognize during one of the songs and Brad said that it was a tamborine being played in the back!

I have discovered a new "toy" that I like. I traded cars with Jason right after Thanksgiving so that he could get his car repaired in Tennessee instead of Alabama. (To make a long story short, in was in a drive by shooting after the Auburn/Alabama game just before Christmas and several shots went in his vehicle, causing some damage. We are so thankful that Jason and his friends were not hit or hurt but the police did recover nine slugs from the scene.) Anyway, Jason has a satellite radio in his vehicle. We traded vehicles for three weeks. The radio has never been something that I've used all these years. I didn't really pay attention to it for almost two weeks, partly because I couldn't figure it out. I played with it for one day while Steve drove and discovered that I LOVE SATELLITE RADIO! I found several jazz stations that Steve and I both like and FOUR stations right next to each other that played Christmas music! The sound quality is so good and much clearer than a regular radio. I could even recognize songs being played as soon as they came on. When I told my therapist, she suggested that I try to listen to Talk Radio to see if I can understand what is being said. I didn't get a chance because Jason and I traded cars back but I have a feeling that Steve and I will end up with satellite radio in our cars soon!

Speaking of therapy, I am making progress. Susie says that I am halfway between "closed set" and "open set" sentences. That means I can recognize a sentence if I have a picture in front of me or if I know ahead of time what she is going to talk about. I can recognize some sentences and phrases without knowing ahead of time (open set) what the subject matter is but it is hard! Phrases like "Breakfast is ready," "What are you hiding under your coat," "I would like ice cream with my pie," are some sample sentences. I will be going back to Bill on January 3rd to have my processor "mapped" again because I feel like I need some fine tuning. I'm not suppsed to go back to him for six months but I can tell already that I need another adjustment. But, in the meantime, I'm still listening and still practicing. I love being able to hear this well and give thanks to God every day for this wonderful electronic miracle!

In closing I would like to share a prayer that we said in church on Sunday:

Loving Father, help us remember the birth of Jesus, that we may share in the song of the angels, the gladness of shepherds, and the worship of the wise men.

Close the door of hate and open the door of love all over the world.

Let kindness come with every gift and good desires with every greeting.

Deliver us from evil by the blessing which Christ brings, and teach us to be merry with clear hearts.

May the Christmas morning make us happy to be Thy children, and the Christmas evening bring us to our beds with grateful thoughts, forgiving and forgiven, for Jesus' sake. Amen.

Love and Christmas blessings to you from me. Laurie